School Dance
by Sabby-Sama
Summary: With the Valentine's Dance coming up, will Denzel be able to find the courage to ask Marlene to be his date? Sequel to "Homework"!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Thirteen Days**

He pulled the scarf tighter around his neck and jammed his mitt covered hands inside his puffy coats pockets.

Winter decided to rear it's ugly head brutally in FEBRUARY instead of January, or even December.

"Oh, stop being a wimp Denzel! It's not that cold!" Marlene exclaimed. To prove her point, she balled up some fresh snow and tossed it playfully at the other teen. Denzel flinched at the impact of the White Death to his face.

He shook his head roughly, causing snow to fly off every which way. He glared at his girlfriend. Marlene giggled gleefully that soon turned nervous sounding. She didn't mean to hit him in the face! Just to nail him forcefully in the arm was all. . .

She knew the look on his face meant two things; Denzel was mad, but he also had that teasing glint in his eye that wanted _revenge._

Marlene backed up slowly, raising her hands in a gesture of peace. Her eyes widened when Denzel kept scuffling his boots closer and closer towards her.

There was no hope, she should just surrender. Bringing her hood up over her head and pulling the strings, she prepared for the frigid rush of snow at her face.

She cracked open an eye a minute later. Huh?

And that was when she got knocked in the snow, caught off guard.

Denzel had let out a war cry and tackled her into a giant snow pile behind her. Her breath stuck in her throat and was released in a fit of howling laughter once she hit the fluffy snow.

Even though Denzel was the attacker, he got it the worse. Instead of sidestepping Marlene's searching hands for the boys coat to bring him down with her, he slipped on some deadly ice and landed face first into the ugliest part of the pile.

Denzel lifted his frozen face out of the snow slowly and turned to face Marlene. She laughed at how the dirty slush was sliding off his frost bitten cheeks. He carefully opened his blue eyes, afraid that some of the nasty slush would get in them.

Despite getting a faceful of snow then he intended too, he sheepishly smiled at Marlene's visible joy as she clutched her sides. His heart started to thump and his stomach felt like it was filled with sunshine.

The deep 'ah-oooga'-like horn broke the both of them out of their merriment.

The chestnut haired teen grabbed his girlfriends hand and hauled her up. They raced to the school bus.

As the bus driver gave the sopping wet kids odd looks, Denzel led Marlene up the stairs, telling her to be careful not to slip as she just waved him off. He was becoming too much like _Cloud._

Once they plopped down in a seat together they immedietly continued to laugh loudly, waking up the other half-asleep children around them.

"Aw, how cute." snorted someone from above. The couple wiped their eyes and looked up.

"Hey, Matt!" Denzel greeted his friend. They did their new secret handshake that involved 'clever' twisting moves and several explosion-ish motions. A girl beside Matt rolled her hazel eyes.

Marlene made an attempt at standing and leaning over to hug her friend. "Boys will be boys, huh Sophie?" the girl laughed in agreement.

When the bus lurched forward in movement and before the driver could yell at them to sit down, the other two children sat down in a seat to the side of Marlene and Denzel. The group avidly chattered about their weekends until they reached the school.

The local school in their district wasn't that far from 7th Heaven, just about 10 blocks or so. The driver opened the doors of the yellow bus with a grumble, all the kids immedietly filtering out and running up the stairs to the schools main entrance.

Edge of Meteor Middle School was the name of the building, according to the monument planted in the frosted grass.

Marlene could feel warmth surge through her and her fingers regain feeling once she entered the building. She sighed in comfort. Any longer and she would have been a popsicle! Preferably cotton candy flavoured. . .

Sophie and Matt were yelling at each other (like always) off to one side of the entrance. Marlene looked around. Where'd Denzel go?

The boy in question was staring at a wall.

"Er, Denzel? Is the wall ok?" The young teen whipped around, flustered.

What was up with him? He was blushing and his eyes were wild. She tried to look around him to see what was on the wall, but Denzel swiftly stepped to the side, effectively cutting her off.

"Oh, it's n-nothing." Denzel persuaded weakly. This just made Marlene all the more suspicious. Before she could out juke him to see what made him so nervous, he started wheeling her in the opposite direction.

As she was about to protest, Denzel shouted out a feeble excuse. "Don't want to be late, right Marlene? That witch of a homeroom teacher you have might give you a detention! Heh-heh. . ." He ended in a mad man mumble. She was confused. Was he starting to get affected by the snow?

"Uh, right." she responded, still befuddled. Denzel continued to push her in a direction of a wide hallway and stopped.

He turned around and rushed to the other hallway across the room similar to Marlene's and waved rapidly to her.

"Bye Marlene! See ya later!" And with that, he rushed down the hall designated to the 8th grade classes with the blush still on his face.

Before she could raise her hand for an attempt at a wave goodbye, he was gone after he knocked into another boy and helped him pick up his papers.

She shook her head and walked down her 7th grade hall, bag slung over her shoulder. She'd just have to talk about Denzel's odd boy behaviour to Sophie in class.

* * *

><p>Denzel dropped his binder on his desk, along with his head.<p>

Thirteen days. He had thirteen days to ask Marlene to the 8th grade Valentine Dance!

When he saw the poster near the entrance he started to feel his palms sweating. It took him almost three weeks to tell Marlene his feelings about her before they started dating! And now the dance? A VALENTINE'S day dance, no less.

The Valentine Day dance was something only the 8th graders had the privelage of, since they were the oldest and supposedly more, 'mature' than the rest of the juniour high. He knew people from the year before who went to the dance and the stories about it, to him, were scary.

Everyone going HAD to bring a date. Towards the end of the dance, before everyone got sent home, they played a slow song to which all the couples had to dance with each other. It was tradition in the school.

Denzel moaned to himself as he halfheartedly hit the top of his desk with his fist, not caring about the strange looks he was recieveing. He couldn't _not_ ask Marlene! That'd be so cruel and it'd hurt her feelings. She was his girlfriend afterall. . .

And she was his _girlfriend_! It should be easy to ask her, but. . .it wasn't. When he saw that sign he got the same nervous fluttery feeling he felt when he asked Marlene out in the beginning. That's why he didn't let her see the colorful crudely handmade sign (no doubt created by one of the 6th graders), she'd expect him to ask her right there and then. It'd just be a miracle if she didn't mention it to him until Valentine's Day.

The chestnut haired boy took a deep breath. He was going to do it, one way or another. Thirteen days was plenty of time, right?

Where the heck was Matt when you needed him! He needed to have an emergency 'bro to bro' conversation with him about all of this.

* * *

><p><strong>Here's the long awaited sequel to "Homework"! If you haven't read it, do it now! Ugh, I suck terribly at story titles. . . any new suggestions would be awesome ;D I'd also liek to mention that I bumped up their ages a bit here. Denzel's in 8th grade, so he's about 14. Marlene's in 7th, so around 13. Now, the name of the school. I didn't want something boring like, Egde Middle School. Blah. So I named it Edge of Meteor! If anyones seen Advent Children, you would have noticed the HUUUGE monument in the middle of the story dedicated to Meteor. Small references from Homework, like Marelens love for sweets, mainly cotton candy xD<em> Not sure when the next update would be, but until then review and tell me what you thought! It might motivate me ;D<em>**

~Sabby-Sama


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**12 Days**

Right after school the previous day, Denzel rushed up to his room and shut the door, still frazzled from earlier that day. He'd hardly uttered a word to Marlene since then!

For the rest of the day he stayed locked up in his room, only coming out to eat the dinner that Tifa served. It was extremely awkward for the young teen to sit across from his girlfriend, jiggling his leg nervously accompanied by halfhearted attempts at spearing a chunk of chicken.

Marlene thought it was strange how Denzel had a look of sheer constipated pain on his face as he furrowed his brows at the lumpy mashed potatoes on his plate. Yes, Denzel was acting strange the whole day, not even talking to her and being constantly zoned out-clearly not on Gaia- thinking worriedly. But... why?

She continued to stare at him, trying to read his face. Denzel could feel her strong, curious gaze, which only made his cheeks into flaming red cherries. He buried his head deeper into his meal, oh-so attractively.

Eventually, she shrugged it off; maybe he was trying to keep the answers that he crammed into his small teenage boy brain for some test Monday from escaping. As if unclenching his face would unhinge the barriers of his brain, letting all those thoughts out like a broken dam. _Someone_ would be getting premature wrinkles.

The rest of the large family at the table was completely oblivious to the odd exchange.

* * *

><p>Her cinnamon sugar eyes followed a younger child as he giggled and ran off to a giant snow pile. Marlene smiled faintly at the small child.<p>

Marlene sighed. Where to start? She swung back and forth lightly on the swing, now watching her boots drag across the frozen ground.

"So, what is it Marlene? It seems like you're not telling me something." Her friend Sophie asked with worried eyes. The girl that was usually a ball of sunshine seated next to her was swinging gloomily and was dim and cloudy today.

Pursing her lips to the side, Marlene explained what was on her mind. "Denzel's been acting super odd lately."

It was a nice Saturday afternoon, the day after the strange event that took place with Denzel in the hall. Earlier Marlene had picked up the phone and dialed her best friend Sophie's number. She asked if they could meet at the small park near both their houses.

Sophie quickly agreed, knowing that a meeting at the park was something that happened once in a blue moon, and was usually a signal of a Code Red.

Now the hazel eyed girl began to spin in her swing, twisting the chains and then lifting up her feet, letting it unravel with jerks as she spun, her blonde hair whipping Marlene in the face.

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked anxiously. She just might have to beat Denzel in armwrestling again... But add a nice punch in the kisser this time.

Marlene stopped her swinging motions and now made it her goal to break through the frozen earth with the toe of her boot. "Remember yesterday, in the hall?"

Dark blonde hair was swept to the side as Sophie tilted her head and held her chin in thought. A memory of her yelling at Matt and then punching him in the shoulder appeared in her mind.

She shook her head. "Nope, I was sorta... distracted?" She said uncertainly. The way Marlene had asked her that question seemed like she was actually paying attention.

More children ran by to join the other one that was practically swimming in the giant mounds of snow that littered the ground.

"Well, he saw something on the wall and flipped out, and his face was really red. And he hasn't been talking to me lately..."

Sophie instantly grinned. She knew exactly what Marlene was talking about. After all, she put up that poster the day before since she was in the school's student council's dance committee.

"The Valentine's Dance!" Sophie shouted excitedly. Marlene just looked up to her with a confused look. What about it? Not like she could go, since she wasn't in the eighth grade.

"Ugh, you're so dumb." The blonde said in frustration at the brunettes expression. "He wants to ask you to the _dance_!" she clarified excitedly.

Marlene may not be in the eighth grade. . .but Denzel sure was. And it'd be perfectly fine if she went, as long as she was Denzel's..._date._

The rest of Marlene's face reddened to match the frozen tip of her nose. "N-no! He wouldn't be able to!" she protested weakly. Denzel had almost passed out from oxygen loss when he first blurted out his feelings for her, all in one breath. Not to mention how pretty much all his blood rushed to his face.

Sophie was beaming and was giddily bouncing in the black plastic seat, definitely unfitting for her tomboyish nature.

"But he's such a weenie!" Marlene added. Sophie laughed and poked Marlene playfully, as the poked one tried to hide her face from a very curious group of younger children.

"So he's that nervous because he wants to ask me to the dance?" she gulped. Would she have to_ slow dance_ with Denzel? She couldn't even do the chocobo dance right without screwing up!

Sophie nodded her blonde head. "I bet that's what he's been thinking about a lot lately."

It made sense, especially about dinner the night before. "So what do I do then?" She asked nervously as she fixed her pink bow. Her friend had calmed down by now and just shrugged breezily.

"Pretend that you don't know about it. If Denzel thinks you know it'll just make him uncomfortable and probably scare him out of asking." The blonde girl replied.

Humming in agreement, Marlene spoke with a sigh. "I really need to join the student council."

* * *

><p>Whilst the girls were having their conversation in the park, the boys had different things on their minds.<p>

"No! No, no! Shoot!" Denzel jerked his game controller to the side as if it'd have any effect. He jabbed buttons fiercely with his thumbs.

Jumping up onto the bed, Matt shouted, "Go, go, go! Die, Zombie!" Followed my manic laughter. He jiggled up and down anxiously as more and more undead neared the boys' virtual characters. Denzel had quieted and now had his eyes up against the screen.

Finally, with a groan of defeat, the boys tossed their controllers off to the side. The game was paused on a screen that read 'GAME OVER'.

"You heard about that dance?" Matt eventually asked as he reached for a sandwich on a nearby plate, courtesy of Tifa. Denzel bristled visibly at the thought.

Matt snorted. "I take that as a yes then." He grinned. The chestnut haired boy grabbed his own sandwich, making sure it contained ham.

"I'm guessing you think I'm a wimp then. Right?" Denzel sighed as he gloomily bit into his snack.

With a shrug, his friend with the wild mop of hair asked in response, "Because I think you won't ask Marlene?"

A nod from Denzel.

Matt suddenly 'oh-ed', mouth agape to show soggy, mutilated pieces of food. "That's why you acted weird on the bus the day the Dance was announced?"

A blush was Matt's answer.

Scarfing down the sandwich's remains, the boy nudged his friend with a grin. "Just ask her! Do you actually think she'll say no? You've been going out for... how long again?"

"Three months." Denzel replied without a moments hesitation.

"Exactly! What's holding you back then?"

He hesitated momentarily. Why _was_ he nervous about asking anyways? When you lived with someone in the same household, you were open with one another.

"I'm not sure. . .I guess I'm just embarrassed?" He mumbled to himself more than to Matt.

Grabbing the blue eyed boy by the shoulders, Matt suddenly shook him. Denzel's head lolled crazily from side to side as his eyes were wide with shock and confusion.

"Be a _man_! Ask her!" Matt chanted over and over excitedly with a huge grin on his face. Denzel whimpered at the queasy feeling in his stomach. Maybe it was a bad idea to have ham...

"Fine!" He shouted what Matt wanted to hear as soon as it felt like his head was about to pop off from his body and skip away like Zack.

Matt stopped and pumped a fist in the air with a whoop of satisfaction. Denzel buried his head in his hands.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the late update! D: I wasn't very motivated to right this since I had a tad bit of a writers block (So that's why this is a bit short o ) But anyways I hope you liked this one! Expect some extra fluffyness in the next chapter? Review and tell me what you thought! The more reviews, the more motivated i'll be! ;D<strong>

**~Sabby-Sama**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**11 Days**

The shouts from downstairs told Cloud it was going to start soon. The screams, crashes of a plate or two being knocked to the ground or thrown at a wall in agitation, and possibly the occasional crunch of a foot stomping atop another.

Commencing down in the kitchen was; The Breakfast Wars.

It was the weekend and the only thing weekends were good for instead of being a bum and eating everything in sight, was catching up on some sweet, precious sleep. But not with the kids and Zack in the household.

Cloud groaned groggily and rolled over in bed as he wiped away some stray drool. He stared at the clock whose mocking red digits seemingly shouted _'Good Morning, sucker!'_, read 7:33.

Not even _Genesis_ was up this early. And the redhead always wanted a head start at his own war against germs, by disinfecting every inch of his apartment. He was such a freak with his apron and rubber gloves pulled on.

Cloud started to keep track of the time on the clock after it reached 7:34. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>"Denzel!" Marlene shrieked as she stomped her foot. She had just skipped down the stairs, the morning being perfect. When she saw Denzel in the kitchen, however, her morning took a turn for the worse.<p>

The boy turned to look at her dumbly as he licked his pancake mix-coated finger guiltily, caught in the act. "Huh?"

Marlene stomped over, not caring that she was probably going to wake up the whole sleep-deprived household. And city.

If his life wasn't being threatened, Denzel would have thought she looked cuter than usual when she was mad.

"You know making the pancake mix is my thing!" She yelled. She's been the pancake provider of the household ever since she was eight and helped Aerith -who was helpless- in the kitchen. Her thing was NOT going to be taken away by some boy who couldn't do anything right, even if he was her boyfriend.

He shrugged. "You were still sleeping so I figured I'd do it." He answered sincerely. "And lower your voice! Tifa worked late last night."

She imitated the pose Tifa would make when she was getting agitated; fists rested on hips while her leg was stretched out. Though, Marlene didn't look so threatening in her vivid rainbow covered pajamas. Denzel laughed to himself, trying to be quiet about it. She just pouted ever more slightly and glared menacingly.

Denzel reached into a cabinet and took out a bottle of cinnamon and added a dash to the batter. Marlene's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"You... did not... just do that." Marlene said slowly as she pointed to the offending bottle of spice. The voice that came out of the young teen scared Denzel. It didn't sound like her at all.

Denzel didn't know what to say. "Uh. . ."

"I don't like cinnamon!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "That's it, I don't want pancakes. I'm not hungry anymore." She said in a disgusted monotone.

Denzel shrugged. "Can you set up the table then?"

Just then, a peppy Zack came down the stairs and rounded the corner, landing smack in the middle of World War Three. He was curious to see what the young couple was already arguing over, the shouts being the siren call that brought him down into the kitchen in the first place.

Typically, he wasn't allowed in the kitchen since he was banned. But the rules could be bent a little since it sounded like someone was going to get bludgeoned to death with the mixing bowl that started the whole disagreement.

"Kiddos, you're not even married yet and you're already having a squabble?" Zack asked in disbelief. The ravenette was a hypocrite though, since he would practically have a heart attack when Aerith took the remote from him to watch, 'The Real Housewives of Edge'. The show that made Zack's brain gooey. He still couldn't get that ferocious cat fight out of his mind. Edge housewives were _feisty._

Marlene's face reddened in embarrassment. "M-Marriage?"

Denzel chuckled nervously at the statement. "You and Aerith fight sometimes, too." He pointed out.

The boy got him there. "Well," the ravenette started to retaliate, "we don't kill each other over- what is it exactly you're screaming about this early in the morning?" He realized he had no idea what was going on. The kitchen seemed normal and far from blown up.

Marlene pointed a finger at Denzel. "Mister lazy butt decides today of all days to prepare the pancake mix for Tifa, something only I do." She accused. "THEN, he decides to add cinnamon into it. Something he knows I hate!"

Zack_ 'ooh-ed'_ as if to say, _'Ouch, Denzel. You really screwed up now.'_

"How was I supposed to know?" Denzel protested. The two started to argue again.

Zack separated the young couple. "Hey, hey, HEY!" He shouted. Marlene glared at him for interfering.

"Who are you? Fat Albert?" She asked smartly. Even Denzel had to chuckle a bit at that.

The man scoffed. "Oh yeah?" he ran a hand through his hair, a few fallen strands of it coming out to rest on his palm.

"This is how we're going to settle this little dispute." He announced. He dropped his hair in the batter and before either of them could stop him, he mixed it in thoroughly.

He smiled, satisfied with himself. "There. Now go make another batter, _without_ the cinnamon."

The young teens threw their heads back and simultaneously yelled out to the top of the stairs, "Cloud! The Puppy's shedding again!"

* * *

><p>Cloud calculated the number of minutes it took for him to be called down. Exactly seven minutes. A new record.<p>

After breakfast was served and eaten, Denzel trotted up the stairs and into his room. Stupid Mrs. Smith, giving him a project over the weekend. If he could get away with it, he'd place a tack on her chair.

Denzel laughed to himself. Everyone thought their science teacher stuffed the butt part of her pants with balloons because her backside was so ridiculous it wasn't even funny. The rumor would be true if her butt exploded as she sat in her chair!

Halfway into building his model of a molecule, someone knocked on the door. It burst open without say from Denzel. What if he were in the middle of getting dressed? Flashing Marlene would not have made a good impression!

"Heya Denzel!" She chirped, despite how bloodthirsty the girl was at breakfast.

He smiled a hello and continued to work on his project. Sometimes Marlene would come in his room and distract him from doing school work, which was a Godsend. Maybe she'd suggest they go to the park?

Marlene had felt almost guilty at her own selfishness during their little squabble, so she decided to come here and apologize. But Denzel seemed to forgotten it, so she wouldn't make the awkward effort.

Instead, another idea popped into her pink-bowed head.

Wouldn't now be the perfect time for Denzel to spill the beans about his thoughts on the dance? She grinned her sneaky Cheshire grin, inherited from Yuffie. Denzel was preoccupied with building something like a giant Styrofoam and wire lollipop, glazed with glue. It didn't look very appetizing.

She sat down crossed legged on the other side of the science structure. She tapped it with a dainty finger, careful not to break the crudely built thing that Denzel's grade counted on.

"Whatcha building...?" Marlene asked. Not to start a conversation, but because she truly didn't know what it was.

"Just a molecule thingy for The Butt." he answered with a chuckle as he slathered glue on a piece. Marlene giggled loudly, knowing who he was talking about.

Searching for what to say next, Marlene decided to finally drop a hint.

"Wouldn't it be strange if, I don't know, molecule thingies could...dance?" She fumbled. That had to be the worst, most ridiculous, attempt at a hint, ever. It was worse than Cid who would 'smoothly' tell Shera what he wanted for Christmas, when she already obviously knew by the pilot's horrible hinting skills.

He scrunched his eyebrows "If they could somehow dance, I think I'd be scared." he answered logically. If molecules could dance, they could probably take over Gaia, too.

Pinching her thigh scoldingly, Marlene bashed herself mentally for her horrible attempt.

But it wasn't the poor girls fault, it was the chestnut haired teen's for being extremely oblivious, just like a certain blonde swordsman.

"So, uh...What do you think about Matt and Sophie?" She asked randomly, and immediately regretted it. This was going to end with her babbling like an idiot, or lead into something that shouldn't be mentioned.

That was an odd question, Denzel thought. "They're our good friends?" What kinda of answer was she expecting? "Why, did something happen? Oh God, please don't tell me Sophie broke Matt's arm." Denzel sighed. If the girly-looking tomboy actually broke his best friend's arm, how would they be able to play video games together?

Snorting, Marlene shook her head no. That _would_ be a very likely thing, since Sophie already sprained the boys wrist playing Mercy, but that's not what she had in mind.

"Hah, but what I mean is... don't you think they have a thing for one another?" She inquired.

Yep, the conversation has now led into territory that shouldn't even be looked at, forget about stomped all over.

Denzel stopped what he was doing and thought for a minute. "Yeah...Yeah, actually I think they do." he said in slight surprise. It's like the saying, if a girl picks on a boy it means she likes him. And Matt was randomly talking about Sophie the other week too. . .

"He should ask her to the Dance!" Marlene shouted a little too excitedly, and loudly. Well, if that wasn't subtle, then nothing was.

Flinching, Denzel shrugged nonchalantly, still not picking up on the signs. Did she have to kneel in front of him, lick his feet and beg to be asked to the Dance so it'd be SLIGHTLY noticeable?

"I don't think he'd ask her though, don't you?" Denzel responded.

Marlene had a mental freak out. **_Yes!_** She cried mentally, **_Yes, you can ask me to the Dance, stupid!_**

"Well, hopefully..." she mumbled to herself.

* * *

><p><strong>I really need to start typing the chapters up sooner, I really do. D: I'm so so sorry for the lateness! I hope this chapter was worth the wait though. Tell me what you thought in a review! :D<strong>

**~Sabby-Sama**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**7 Days**

After rearranging his binder neatly and tossing out all the old papers and notices he should have given to Cloud and Tifa, Denzel pushed back his chair and stood from his desk.

"Oh, Denzel!" His teacher called for him after the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. He turned to face her. His palms started to become clamy. Did she just see him stick gum under his desk?

She motioned for him to come to her large desk. Obeying, he slunk over to her desk looking every bit guilty. Fellow classmates were pushing and climbing over one another as the race to the exit commenced. Matt hung behind, out of the swarm of middle schoolers way, waiting for Denzel.

"Do you mind tutoring some of the Elementary school children after school?" she asked. "You're a smart young man." she smiled.

Denzel numbly nodded, relieved that he wasn't going to get shackled and thrown into jail for his crime with a hefty communtiy service requirement. "Thank you, Denzel. Just report to Room 120 at the end of the day."

Even though this was one of Edge's middle schools, there was also a section in the building reserved for smaller children.

Quickly shuffling out the door, Denzel gripped Matt's arm and dragged him along. "Come on, hurry up!" Denzel whispered urgently. What if his teacher suddenly decided to keep him after school for vandalizing school property with gum? There was that little something in her eye that said she _knew_ what he did.

He was a straight A student after all, who always sat at his desk and diligently did his work; a single peep never leaving his mouth.

"Dude, wha-?" Matt grumbled as he tripped on his shoelace while he was practically being kidnapped by another child.

"She'll hear you!" and with that, a paranoid Denzel and a confused Matt in tow went off to their next class.

* * *

><p>One thing that Marlene loved, was group work. Almost immedietly after her teacher said they were going to work in pairs, without a nano second to spare, she and Sophie teamed up.<p>

Instead of actually doing their work about the Midgar Revolution and how Edge came to be, the two girls talked.

"Doesn't he look extra tubby today in that shirt?" Sophie asked while nudging her chin towards their teacher. He was reclined back at his desk, a box of powdered donuts sitting in front of his face.

The two girls giggled as they saw their teacher inwardly debating with himself. Should he have one more donut? Or finish correcting all those papers besides the donuts first?

"Sometimes I wonder if we're better off teaching ourselves." Marlene mused. Their history teacher was the most clueless out of the entire school. No, scratch that. Most clueless in all of Edge. Even Uncle Zack was ahead of him on the Doofus Chart.

Sophie shrugged. Just as they were finally starting to do their work, there was a creak and a pop from the teachers desk.

Snapping their heads up, they caught the most perfectly laughable moment in all of the Planet.

Apparently, their teacher decided on eating another donut. The ring of pure tongue-tingling deliciousness slipped out of his hands and plopped on the floor. Just as he was about to lean over and pick it up, something in his spinny chair snapped and a button popped off his shirt, partially exposing his blubbery (and hairy) stomach.

Marlene started to guffaw the loudest amongst the rest, until Sophie pointed out the fat spilling out of their teacher's hideous plaid shirt. They both began to silently gag.

"Yup, thats a great shirt!" Marlene giggled as she wiped tears out of her eyes, agreeing with Sophie's earlier comment. Her conversation a few days prior with Denzel suddenly surfaced in her mind. Marlene began to neutrally write down some answers on her paper.

"You know who else has an awesome shirt, by the way?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could manage. Sophie 'hm'-ed questioningly, finally getting a grip on herself after the whole embarrassing button-popping episode.

Scribbling something down on her sheet, Marlene spoke, "Matt."

Sophie wasn't fazed. "Hm, I guess. I mean, his favorite color _is_ blue and it looks good on him." she thought aloud.

Marlene smirked. "I thought I'd never hear you actually say something nice about Matt!" Maybe she was onto something, finally!

Squinting at Marlene, Sophie detected some sarcasm in her friend's voice. "And?" Marlene had that suspicious sparkle in her eyes. . .

"Just thinking. . .that you should go to the Dance with Matt." She looked up at Sophie smugly.

"Never." her friend blatantly replied. That shocked Marlene. No blushing? Stuttering? She didn't even look the least bit flustered!

The bell rang. Before Marlene could say anymore, Sophie packed up her things and left, speeding off to her next class.

* * *

><p>With directions from a helpful adult, Denzel finally found Room 120. Knocking on the door, he patiently waited as he watched the elementry school teacher through the window.<p>

"Hi. My teacher said you needed help with some students?" Denzel asked shyly. He didn't really know what he was supposed to do.

The teacher nodded as she watched him somewhat coldly through her glasses, fixing htme in the process. "Ah yes, Denzel right?" she asked. "Just head on over to that group of children at that table. They need help with some simple addition."

Heading over to the round, colorful table Denzel stopped when someone lifted her head to greet him.

"Marlene?"

"Denzel?" they asked at the same time. The younger children at the table giggled.

"What are you doing here?" Marlene asked him.

He pulled out a chair and began to sit down. Only to find that he had to stoop lower to fully sit in the tiny chair. "Apparently the same reason you are." a little girl immedietly tugged on his sleeve and asked for help on a question.

Marlene began to talk to a younger boy having trouble with carrying numbers. Finally showing him how to do a problem correctly without writing random guesses down, Marlene raised her head to look at Denzel. "You remember our conversation a couple of days ago? About Matt and Sophie?"

"Yeah...Why?" Denzel asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

She sighed. "I brought up the idea of them two going to the Dance and Sophie said she would _never_ go out with him and got all upset." She hadn't seen her for the rest of the day today, even at lunch. It was just her, Matt and Denzel awkwardly sitting at their little spot in the cafeteria.

"Really?" Denzel asked. By now he was literally doing all the work for the children next to him as they bragged about their impressive crayons to one another.

One of the children -a little girl wearing a red dress with moogles- put down her pencil and grinned up at the young teens.

"You two go out, right? Go to the Valentines Dance together!" she squealed energetically. All the other elementary quickly agreed.

Marlene laughed it off as typical seven and eight year old's being adorable, while Denzel nearly had a heartattack.

Not only did his teacher suspect him of sticking goopey gum under his desk, but now it seemed like these children were mocking him. Like they knew he was too chicken to do something so simple. Asking Marlene, (his girlfriend!) to the Dance.

Denzel put his head in his hands. He should probably talk to the guidance counselor about his paranoia. . .

* * *

><p><strong>I AM SUCH AN IDIOT. I REALLY AM. I had this typed up and in my Doc Manager for AGES. And completely forgot about it! I wanted to wrap this story up for Valentines day, but that's not going to hapen since V-Day came and went, not to mention I'm like two chapters behind. I am SO horrible to you awesome peeps, really. I feel like theres no purpose in continuing this since it won't be the same. . . I don't know, do you think I should continue anyway?<strong>

**~Sabby-Sama**


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